A Doll House and a Student Show

Dear Family and Friends,

When we were children, my sister and I had the most magical doll house. It was magnificent, with every conceivable detail to feed a child’s limitless imagination.

This wonder home had three stories. They were filled with well furnished rooms. The living room had a teeny sofa and chairs, a fireplace with tinsel fire, and even a small TV. 

The dining room had a large table, many chairs, and even a chandelier. The food was so well made that if it were ten times larger, it could have been mistaken for the real thing.

The bedrooms had beds with fluffy pillows and puffy quilts. The curtains were lacy and could be opened and closed.

Even the bathroom had a mini-toilet and a sink with faucets that could turn.

This doll house was so extraordinary that my parent also marveled. They could easily enters worlds of fantasy, just as we kids did day after day.

Today I was fortunate to have a bit of free time when I was downtown. So, I headed over to Mediateque to see what was there. Mediateque is an ultra-modern “community center” of sorts. It is filled with a wide variety of spaces for public use. As luck would have it, this week there was an exhibit of works by graduating architectural students. The academic years in Japan ends in March, so this show was their final statement before setting out into the wider world.

And what a show it was! There was one display after another. Each one had the main model, of course. Above that were drawings of the building, both by hand and digital. And on the floor beside each piece was a folder recording the process of creation.

The projects went from single family homes to apartment buildings, from city centers to shopping malls, from airports to convention centers, from wooded parks to recreation areas in cities.

One of the most unusual designs was based on a pudgy human figure (upper left drawing). The artist used that to plan an area with swirling lines and curved spaces. 

I was completely taken aback by the marvelous details of each piece. All so tiny. All so perfectly rendered. All feasts for the imagination, which someday may become real places. 

In a way, the show was like my childhood doll house. Each display gave me the same sense of awe and wonder that I knew as a child. But these were far more detailed and varied.

The exhibit itself also filled me with tremendous hope. I feel very reassured that young people today can be magnificently imaginative and creative. I saw how they use their computers and artistic skills to make places that are livable, sustainable, unique, and indeed very beautiful.

Love,

Anne